1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical instruments and, more particularly, to surgical instruments configured for use with interchangeable hand grips.
2. Description of Related Art
Surgical instruments, e.g., electrosurgical forceps (closed type), are well known in the medical arts and typically include a housing, a handle assembly, a shaft and an end effector assembly attached to a distal end of the shaft. In certain instances, the handle assembly may include one or more fixedly attached hand grips that provide a gripping surface for an operator, e.g., a clinician, such that the operator may securely and comfortably grasp the surgical instrument. To this end, the handle assembly including the hand grips are appropriately sized, shaped and equipped to improve the operator's hold on the surgical instrument.
In certain instances, the surgical instrument may include one or more functional features, e.g., a rotating assembly, which may be configured to facilitate operation thereof. The one or more features are, typically, actuatable from the handle and/or hand grip assemblies. For example, to facilitate operation of a rotating assembly that may be used to rotate a shaft of the surgical instrument, the rotating assembly is positioned on a housing of the surgical instrument and within a “finger's reach” of the handle and/or hand grip assemblies.
To accommodate various hand sizes, in addition to left or right hand use, manufactures typically produce the same surgical instrument with multiple molded or overmolded handle and/or hand grip assemblies. As can be appreciated, this may not be cost effective. Moreover, repositioning of the one or more functional features on the surgical instrument may be required to accommodate the multiple configurations of handle and/or hand grip assemblies.